The Bell and Bucket

It seems like there is quite a rash of open mic nights popping up in the north east recently. Enjoyed a great evening last Thursday down at The Bell and Bucket in North Shields, hosted by my friend Ruth Lambert. I was accompanied by my brilliant guitarist Paul Eden. We did a couple of numbers and also enjoyed some great music and singing from various guests throughout the evening. The B&B is well worth a visit!

Nicola is coming home!

 Our amazing daughter Nicola is coming to visit us. She has been living in Berlin for some time and is coming across on the ferry from Amsterdam in her bashed up old, beloved camper van!
She is proud to be a Twinkle eyed Misfit! To find out more go here.
Here she is in her Dreamcoat..........Ask her about this, it's an amazing thing she's doing!

And here she is looking quite...........lovely!

Back to Work

Now that my horrible flu has gone and my voice has returned to almost normal, I'm beginning to get back into the swing of work and the bookings are coming in. I've done a few afternoons at some lovely Care Homes and also have a number of other gigs in the diary over the next few weeks. I've also been getting out and about to a few of the 'open mic' sessions that are springing up in the region, and yesterday I went to the Crescent Club in Cullercoats to join in the fun at their Monday afternoon jazz session.

By the way, if you want to keep your ear to the ground in terms of all things related to jazz in the north east, then you need to get over to Lance Liddle's blog 'Bebop Spoken Here' where you will be kept fully informed. Lance has been very supportive to me and gave me a nice mention when I was involved in the Alan Titchmarsh ' Singing Pensioner' competition recently.

The Singing Pensioner

During the Christmas period I've been reflecting on my experience and involvement in The Singing Pensioner competition on The Alan Titchmarsh Show in November and December. And WHAT an experience it was! For those who don't already know the story, here is the short version...

"A few weeks ago I came home from work and flopped down in front of the TV to unwind. The Alan Titchmarsh Show was on and there was a competition to find ‘The Singing Pensioner’. I watched the second of three heats and at the end of the show there was a request for other prospective contestants to send in a track and biography. I immediately went to my computer and sent off both. A couple of days later I had a phone call from the producer to ask if I could go to London to take part in the show and third heat on the 10th November. I travelled to London and sang ‘Cry Me a River’ in the heat... and won!

The final of the competition was on the Alan Titchmarsh Show on 24th November. I sang ‘Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps’, a classic track from the Doris Day songbook... and I won the competition! The prize for the winner of the competition was to record a single - ‘White Christmas’ with the Chelsea Pensioners. This track was recorded at Pinewood Studios the day following the final, and was released on Monday 13th December. I sang it live with the Chelsea Pensioners on the Alan Titchmarsh Show that day to launch the track, with the aim for the single to be a contender for the Christmas number 1 slot"

The excitement generated by the competition, and eventually winning it, was brilliant and I loved every minute, with loads of support from friends and family, who all rallied round and bought the single when it was released. Throughout the whole experience I had an absolute ball, and the main thing I was hoping for was that the exposure on national television and the resulting media interest would bring me more work and opportunities. However, due to extreme weather conditions and also having flu has led to cancellations rather than bookings! I do have some plans for this year and am hopeful that I will be able to increase my profile on the jazz scene both locally and nationally. Thanks again for all your support!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog. It's a brand new year so I'm starting as I mean to go on and you'll be able to catch up with all my latest news right here. Thanks for looking in... hope you enjoy it!